Blumenthal said he will consult with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) — who chairs the Senate subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law — about whether the ISPs reportedly involved and technology firm Paxfire should be subject to congressional questioning.

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“The interception of countless individuals’ search engine queries ... is a clear violation of trust, done without consumers’ knowledge or consent,” Blumenthal said in a statement to POLITICO. “I look forward to working with state and federal officials to explore the proper enforcement mechanisms so that companies like Paxfire and others stop these harmful practices violating their users’ trust.”

Blumenthal is the junior Democrat on Franken's subcommittee.

A report by University of California-Berkeley researchers Nicholas Weaver, Christian Kreibich and Vern Paxson found that several ISPs employ technology developed by Paxfire to send users directly to product websites when those users enter a browser search for a product — bypassing search engines like Google and Bing entirely.

Moreover, the Berkeley researchers concluded that Paxfire and the ISPs may have received payments for their queries from marketing firms employed by retailers to help draw traffic to their websites.

The Berkeley researchers, alleging that Paxfire was the primary provider of the search rerouting technology, noted Paxfire’s privacy policy, which states that the company may collect anonymous user information including “queries, or the IP address to which a query was directed.”

A class action suit filed by the law firm Reese Richman and Milberg alleges that Paxfire and RCN, an ISP based in Herndon, Va., violated federal wiretap law.

Paxfire on Monday denied allegations that it sold user data, and said its technology does not mimic search engines or hijack search queries.

“We never, ever collect, monitor, store or sell personal data on users, collectively or as individuals, and we never have,” Paxfire CEO Alan Sullivan said in a release.

Paxfire said it would seek legal sanctions against the plaintiffs for damages to its business caused by the allegations.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 4:15 p.m. on August 10, 2011.